The President of the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; the Director of Unión Fenosa Distribución, Raúl Suárez; the Regional Councillor for Economic Affairs, Business and Employment of Castile-La Mancha, Patricia Franco; the Mayor of Almonacid de Zorita, Elena Gordón; and the Director of Unión Fenosa Distribución in Castile-La Mancha, Javier Delage, visited the electricity substation and museum forming part of the Bolarque Hydropower Plant complex located in Almonacid de Zorita (Guadalajara) earlier today.
In turn, Raúl Suárez said that “Unión Fenosa Distribución – a company forming part of GAS NATURAL FENOSA – has made a firm commitment to technological transformation while working to ensure the reliability and quality of electricity supply in all our areas of business, enabling users to play an increasingly active role in our energy system”.
“Unión Fenosa Distribución has invested 259 million euros between 2013 and 2017 to maintain and strengthen its electricity infrastructures in Castile-La Mancha. We will remain committed to the region and will do so with new, more technological and innovative ways that also guarantee quality of supply that we offer to the people of Castile-La Mancha”, said Javier Delage, Director of Unión Fenosa Distribución in Castile-La Mancha.
New projects
Unión Fenosa Distribución plans to invest 45 million euros in Castile-La Mancha during 2018. Besides the ongoing investments in network maintenance and improvement, the main projects will comprise a new 29-kilometre connection line between Fuentes de la Alcarria and Fuente de la Niña, which will strengthen electricity distribution in the city of Guadalajara and surrounding areas. It also includes the expansion and modernisation of the Entrepeñas substation (Guadalajara) and the construction of new substations in El Olivar (Alocén, Guadalajara) and Tembleque (Toledo), with which we will increase supply security in the two areas.
Innovation and supply quality
The investments made and scheduled will help increase quality of supply in those areas where Unión Fenosa Distribución supplies electricity.
The company has made substantial improvements to the interruption time equivalent to medium-voltage installed capacity (Spanish acronym: TIEPI) in Castile-La Mancha, the main indicator of service quality. In the last 10 years, the TIEPI has fallen by 62% to stand at 0.61 hours last year. Electricity supply in Castile-La Mancha was available 99.99% of the time.
The electricity distribution subsidiary of GAS NATURAL FENOSA has incorporated innovation and technology into its distribution networks, achieving a roll-out of smart meters in Castile-La Mancha of 98% and 96% under tele-management. These remotely managed devices gather 570 million hourly measurement records in Castile-La Mancha every month. This type of reading is reliable and avoids basing bills on estimated consumption because it provides a precise figure on what has been used.
Another example of innovation in the activity by Unión Fenosa Distribución is that over 1,600 kilometres of high-voltage power lines in Castile-La Mancha were overflown with drones last year. These flights form part of the Regulatory Periodical Verification activity undertaken on power lines in order to comply with regulatory requirements but also to enable the early detection of possible situations that could lead to faults or incidents at facilities, thereby avoiding unforeseen supply interruptions.
Substation and Museum in Bolarque
The Bolarque electricity substation, which forms part of the Hydropower Plant complex, entered operation in 2016 following an investment of 3.7 million euros to improve the reliability of and modernise power hub nodes with the greatest impact on electricity supply in the provinces of Guadalajara and Cuenca, from where major power lines spread out to create the basis of the region’s power grid.
The Bolarque Museum was opened in 1977 with a mission to conserve industrial heritage through its collection, capable of telling the story of the country’s energy sector. At present, there are over 1,000 pieces in the collection, including original objects and documents, period furniture and large machinery. Furthermore, the collection of photographs showing the construction and operation of the Salto de Bolarque Hydropower Plant is especially notable.